


Croquembouche in a Haversack

by chaya



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Family Feels, Fluff, Food, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-25
Updated: 2018-06-25
Packaged: 2019-05-28 04:08:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15040376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaya/pseuds/chaya
Summary: Nott knows she's a unique liability to the team. The others make sure she knows how they feel about her.





	Croquembouche in a Haversack

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Bluandorange](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bluandorange/gifts).



After they manage to squirrel Nott away from the chaos and get her into the inn, she has a few hours to get a speech together. The main points are that she’s sorry she got spotted in a town, and she’s grateful for their help in saving her, and she doesn’t want to be a risk again, so she’s got to go now.

It will be so hard leaving Caleb, but she’s got to go and he’s got to stay. He’s gotten so much better with these people. She can’t ignore his progress in favor of what she wants.

“We’re going to fix this,” Caleb had said when he dumped her out of his cloak and into the room. “Be patient, we’ll all be back.”

It was a little past nightfall. If it was just the others, she might think that they had decided to save her but leave her. But Caleb wouldn’t leave her.

She’s still surprised at the knock. It’s definitely Caleb’s, so she croaks out a ‘come in’ and he slips into the room, looking strangely okay for a morning filled with screams and guards. Nott gathers herself up regardless.

“Caleb, I want to say I’m sorry, and-”

“I need you to put all of that on pause.”

Nott blinks. He almost never interrupts her.

“I-” He has his hand up, and is looking southwest, toward the other rooms they rented down the hall. “After I got you here, I was ready to talk to them, but they were already-”

“And it’s okay, Caleb, they understand that I’m a ris-”

“Nein! No. Shh. I have to show you what they did.”

Nott stares as Caleb opens the bedroom door again and looks both ways down the hall. He nods that it’s clear. “Okay, _jetzt_.” He points down to the next room. This doesn’t give her any time to ask questions - who knows how long the coast will be clear? She pulls her mask and cloak up, skittering past his legs and to the door to knock twice quickly at the height of the doorknob. “Okay, close your eyes.” Nott looks up at Caleb instead as he follows her over, because what in the hells is going on? Seeing she’s not doing it, Caleb reaches down to cover her eyes with his gloved hands, and when she hears the door creak open she’s walked in blind to the room. She steels herself for… a trap, for something, but Caleb wouldn’t, Caleb wouldn’t, so this won’t be that. Keeping her hands away from her crossbow at her side, she steps in until she hears the door shut behind her, and then Caleb’s hands move away from her face.

It’s the tea house.

Well, it’s everything from the tea house that wasn’t nailed down. There’s a tapestry on the wall, and a small decorative rug underneath the window, and laid out on the floor is an almost complete china set just like the one she was drinking from when the guards came. There’s even tea house food on all the plates, little sandwiches and patisseries and-

“Would madame like to have a seat?” Mollymauk asks in a deep voice, bowing at the waist in a waiter’s uniform.

“Where did you _get_ that?” She asks without thinking, staring at the dark green piping on his vest and slacks.

“I seduced the waiter,” Mollymauk says simply, back to his old self. “Come on and sit down though, honestly. We didn’t know what you liked so we bought one of almost everything.”

Nott looks around the room in awe, eyes stopping on Jester, whose waitress vest doesn’t quite close at the front and is left open instead. “And I suppose you-”

“Oh no, I seduced that one too,” Mollymauk chirps.

Beau laughs from the corner. She’s sitting sprawled on one of the beds, grinning from ear to ear. Fjord is next to her, alternating from smiling at Nott and trying not to look at Jester.

“We bought all the cakes first,” Jester is saying, “and then we bought sandwiches too, for us and also for you, and then Molly started chatting up the half-elf and the human and then Beau and I got all the china and stuff into the bag and-”

“You did this for _me?_ ”

“It’s set for one,” Fjord says, gesturing at the china. “We ate before we got here. You wanted a little meal all to yourself this morning, and you deserve one.”

Nott doesn’t know what to say. She turns and looks up at Caleb, who’s smiling through the messy hair and the dirt on his face like there could be nothing better in the world than people being nice to her. She opens her mouth and still, nothing comes out.

“We’ll clear out and give you the room to yourself,” he says quietly.

“Although you’re welcome to keep the waitstaff,” Mollymauk points out, heels clicking together.

“You should stay,” Nott finds herself saying. “Please. I’d like… I. Thank you. Please stay.”

Beau smirks and shifts deeper into the pile of pillows she’s hoarded in her corner. Jester does her best imitation of a serious person and pulls an ornately decorated water jar out from under the bed, pouring some into Nott’s glass. Nott feels herself smiling.

**Author's Note:**

> Much love to [bluandorange](http://bluandorange.tumblr.com/) for [this fabulous accompanying art](http://bluandorange.tumblr.com/post/177063585585/fieldbears-ivadeshin-asked-for-nott-and-a):
> 
>  


End file.
